The Baker of the Bay Sox

NEW BEDFORD — One way or another, Lorenzo Papa figures he'll be rolling in the dough.

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By BILL ABRAMSON

southcoasttoday.com

By BILL ABRAMSON

Posted Jun. 22, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By BILL ABRAMSON
Posted Jun. 22, 2014 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

NEW BEDFORD — One way or another, Lorenzo Papa figures he'll be rolling in the dough.

The New Bedford Bay Sox first baseman, like all of the college players in the Cape Cod League, New England Collegiate Baseball League and Futures League, has aspirations of someday making a living by playing professional baseball.

The great majority won't.

Realizing that, Papa has a plan B.

He lists himself as an "owner of Mike's Pastry in Boston."

"It's a big pastry shop in the North End," Papa explained, noting his grandfather, Mike, opened the Italian bakery famous for its hand-made cannolis. "I was born and raised in the North End, and right now my sister, brother and cousins all work in the bakery. Once baseball is over, I'll be working there, too."

Mike and Annette Mercogliano and their extended family have been a fixture at 300 Hanover St. for 50 years. To show just how famous this bakery is, when you Google "Italian pastry cannoli" the second item is "Traditional Italian pastry — Mike's Pastry!"

Papa's grandparents realize that the seven-days-a-week schedule requires younger people, and the whole family is involved. Lorenzo's dad, Joe Papa — after a 30-year career as a state trooper — is back in the bakery, where he started working when he was 18.

"Eventually, they want all the grandkids to take over," Lorenzo Papa explained. "We're opening a second location in Harvard Square and, hopefully, in about 10 years, when I'm old enough, we'll have a third location and each family will have one. ... Not everyone will have a career in baseball, so you've got to have a Plan B and Plan C."

Papa's sports history is quite extensive even before his career at Arlington Catholic.

"I was known as the athlete in high school, and I hold every baseball record there," he said. "But, in high school, I didn't care about class work and that's something I regret now. In college you have to do a lot of work and the focus is a lot different. You do your work or you're not going to play, and I want to play."

The 6-foot-4, 245-pound first baseman has played baseball since he was 5 and in the 16 years since then, hasn't missed a season. At Arlington Catholic, he played basketball and football, but claims his best sport was hockey.

"I was better in hockey than baseball," he admitted. "I was a goalie, and when I was 14 years old, I played in a tournament in Canada and was voted the best goalie in my age group. By the time I got to high school, I didn't love it any more so I decided to focus on baseball."

Papa played two years at Broward College in Florida before transferring to Southern New Hampshire University where he will be a junior.

In the meantime, he and his Bay Sox teammates are struggling, especially at the plate, where the team's batting average is a paltry .180. The wood bats used in summer baseball aren't the issue for Papa, who said he prefers hitting with wood.

The drawback for wood? "I already broke three bats this summer," he said. "I've had 20 at bats and this is the worst stretch of my career. Maybe it's that I didn't see any live pitching since the end of April, because that's when our season ended, or maybe the pitching in this league is so good."

After playing a doubleheader in Danbury, Connecticut, Saturday night, the Bay Sox will get a chance for some home games as they play eight games in eight days with the only day off on Monday. All Bay Sox home games will begin at 6:30 p.m.

After the doubleheader, the Sanford Mainers make their first and only appearance in New Bedford tonight, and the Newport Gulls come to town Tuesday for the first of their three games in the Whaling City. Tuesday is $1 hot dog night.

Wednesday was scheduled as an open date, but the Bay Sox will make up the June 13th rainout at the Ocean State Waves, who will make it a home-and-home with a game in New Bedford on Thursday. On Friday, New Bedford is in Mystic, Connecticut, against the Schooners and Saturday the Plymouth Pilgrims make their first visit to Paul Walsh Field.

The Bay Sox and Pilgrims will compete in the Baseball Bonanza this season, with the trophy going to the team with the most wins among the six games they will play. Plymouth has a 1-0 lead, winning the season opener in Plymouth, 9-2.

Should there be a tie with three wins apiece after the July 25th game in New Bedford, the winner of the Bonanza will be determined by a home run contest after that game.

David Mackinnon will have a bulls-eye on him every time he steps to the plate. The University of Hartford third baseman is the only Bay Sox batter hitting above .300 prior to the team's doubleheader Saturday night. He is currently batting .441 with 15 hits in 34 at bats. He has almost 30 percent of the team's base hits (51 total) through nine games.

"The pitching in this league is so much better than you see in college," Mackinnon said. "The pitchers here have a little more zip on the ball and their off-speed pitchers are much better. You don't see that in the middle of the week at college. On weekends you might, but not all week."

In college baseball, the "weekend pitchers" are the best of the staff, as those are usually the league games against the most important opponents.

"Our problem now is strikeouts," Mackinnon said. "We've got to put the ball in play. We lead the league in striking out and we haven't played as many games as some teams."

The Bay Sox have fanned 88 times in 283 official at bats, a 31 percent rate. Mackinnon, however, has struck out just three times in his first 34 at bats.

Carl Anderson, an outfielder at Bryant University and former two-year Bay Sox player, was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Major League Baseball entry draft this month and is playing in the short-season Class A New York-Penn League for the Jamestown (N.Y.) Jammers.

In the first eight games of the season, the Jammers are 2-6, but Anderson is hitting .306 (11-for-36).

In his pro debut on June 13, he made a big first impression, going 4-for-5 against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

Last year with New Bedford, Anderson batted .311 with a home run and 14 RBI in 38 games. In 2012, he hit .261 with a home run and 12 RBI in 28 games with the Bay Sox.